These ‘Superpowers’ Help in the War Against Suicide
“I love how the Bible says we are more than conquerors. But actually, in the Greek, the literal translation is, ‘We are super over-overcomers,'” Pastor Ben Courson said on a recent episode of “Charisma Connection” on the Charisma Podcast Network. “The truth is the Bible portrays us as having one on our team who’s braver than Batman, stronger than Superman, more indomitable than Iron Man, more audacious than Ant-Man or more awesome than Aquaman.
“He’s called the Son of Man, Jesus. And He says, ‘If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father, and I love you to death on the cross,’ which means the Father’s lovingkindess is better than life. So your superpowers are trust and dependence upon the one who has overcome the world.”
Courson, a teaching pastor at Applegate Christian Fellowship in Oregon and founder of the worldwide media ministry Hope Generation, says Christians need to use these “superpowers” to become “optimisfits” and help stem the unacceptable rising trend of suicide in America. An optimisfit, he says, is someone who lives as a “non-conformist adventurer with reckless wonder, wild abandon, childlike faith and unapologetic sacred optimism.”
“Statistics show us that 123 people in America commit suicide every day,” says Courson, who himself once battled depression and suicidal thoughts. “Research tells us that Gen Z and Gen Y are the most depressed generations ever on record. So, we want to rebel against those statistics. We want to be misfits and be ridiculously hopeful in a society racked by despair.”
For more about Ben Courson’s story and how you can become an optimisfit, listen to the podcast below.